Method of and apparatus for winding transformer-coils



w. H. THWAITVESY.

METHOD OF A ND APPARATUS FOR WINDING TRANSFORMER COILS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22,1919.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921,

. 7 7 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

gnoc/W l3 F 3 WILLIANHTWA\TES W. H. THWAITES- METHOD OF AND APPARATUSFOR WINDING TRANSFORMER COILYS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22, 1919. I1,369,855, V Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET WILUAM HTrMAITs UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

'IHWAI'IES, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOB TO THWAITES X-RAYCOMPANY, OF IGAN.

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION 01 MICE- To all whom it mayconcem:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. THWAITEB, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methodsof and Apparatus for Winding Transformer-Coils; and-I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relatesto a method of and apparatus for windingtransformer coils. The transformer coil which is to be produced is ofvery short length and a plurality of the same are used inmaking'transformers for X-ray apparatus. The method of winding which Ihave devised permits the winding many thousands of turns of fine wire ina narrow space so that, a flat transformer coil is made and at the sametime the wires are interlaced and bound together by a fabric threadwhich is twisted around the wire of the coil during the process ofwinding, this holding the turns of wire against displacement withrespect to each other and furnishing a body which is capable of absorbing melted rosin or the like which, when hardened, leaves the coilsecure against any disassociation of the wires which might per-' mitbreakage in the.secondary circuit of the transformer of which the coilforms a part. Coils made by my method and with the apparatus which Ihave devised to carry out the method may be produced rapidly andperfectly without -the necessity of using skilled labor in any respect;

For an understandingof the invention reference may be had to thefollowing de: scription taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which;

Figure-Lisafront elevation of an apparatus for winding the coils usingmy method of automatically winding a fabric thread continuously aroundthe length of wire which makes up the coil. I

Fig.'2 is-a substantially central vertical section therethrough. C

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary taken above the thread. I V

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application flledNovember 22, 1919. Serial No. 339,822.

horizontal section guides forthe wire and- Fig. 4 is a horizontalsection taken in a plane immediately above the drivlng motor Figs. 6 and.7 are, respectively, end and side elevation of the completed coil; and

F 1g. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged view showing the wires of the coilseparated and lllustrating the intertwining! of the fabric threads.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different views ofthe drawings. In the construction of the apparatus which I have devisedfor carrying out the method, a supporting frame is made includmg twoparallel vertical sides 1- connected at their lower and upper ends bycross pieces 2 and 3 and at a point between said ends by a cross pieceor platform 4. A support 5 is attached toandextends upwardly from theupper cross piece or platform 3 from which a spool 7 is loosely mounted,the same carrylng a quantlty of wire 8 which is used in 'maklng thecoil. This wire is very small in diameter and carries insulationthroughout its entire length. In order to restrain the spool. from toofree unwinding a flexible strap 9 is led over the spool and has a weight10 attached to its free end the opposite end being secured to theplatform 3. I have shown two of the spools with associated mechanismbelowthe same so that two coils may be simultaneously wound, but it isapparent that the number maybe increased or that but one coil may bewound at a time as desired.

The wire 8 passes downwardly through an opening in the platform 3 andthrough the hollow conical core 11 on which the thread 12 used is woundin the usual manner. The core is secured to and depends from theplatform 3. The wire with the" thread passes downwardly through a guide-13 which is made as an eye in a length of wire 14 disposed horizontallybetween and connected at its ends to the sides 1 of the frame of themachine. In the present structure two of these eyes are formed for thetwo coils to be made. The wire leads down Patented Mar. 1, 1921. v

to and between two disks 15 secured on a shaft 16 which is detachablymounted in notches made in blocks 17 attached on the inner sides of thesides 1 of the frame and a vertical intermediate support 18 disposedbetween the lower and intermediate cross members 2 and 4'as shown. Thewire and thread are wound around a core ring 19 which is disposedbetween the two disks 15.

" The shaft 16 is rapidly rotated through mechanism which willhereinafter appear and the wire 8 with the thread 12 around,1t is placedbetween the disks, the inner free end passing outwardly through a notch15 in one of the disks. With the rotation of shaft 16 the wire 8 isdrawn from the spool 7 under the tension imparted by the frlction brake9, at the same time the thread multaneously operated by it. At one endof the shaft 23 a pulley 24 is fixed, an endless belt 25 passing aroundthe same and a drive pulley 26 fixed on the motor shaft of a smallelectric motor 27 which is carried on the intermediate platform 4 of theframe. In th1s manner the shafts 16 are driven in the operation ofwinding the coils. 7

It is necessary that the wire and thread be i moved back .and forthbetween opposite disks 15 in order to secure the proper winding of thecoil. To attain this the thread and wire for-a coil passes downwardlythrough guides 28 projecting forward from a slide bar 29 which ismounted on the upper side of the platform 4 and has a limitedlongitudinal movement thereon, longitudinal slots be;

in gmade through the bar 29 through which pins 30 pass servin as guidesfor the bar 1n its movements. he thread and wire ass from the guides 28downwardly over s ort rods 31 and therefrom to the disks 15. To

operate the bar back and forth a lever. 32- is pivotally mounted at 33between its-ends on and above the platform 4, its front end havingpivotal connection w1th the bar 29 at one end. The rear end of the lever32 carries a pin 34: which is received in a cam groove 35 in a drum 36fixed to a shaft 3.7 mounted on one of the sides 1 and the intermediatevertical member 18 of the supporting frame. Rotation of the shaft 37serves to turn lever 32 back and forth about its pivot and to give alimited reciprocatory mov'ementto the bar 29, this having the effect ofmoving the wire as it passes to the coil back and forth between theinner sides of the disks 15.

A pulley 38 is secured at one end of the shaft 37 and is driven by anendless belt 39 which passes around the same and also around asmallerdriving pulley 40 secured at the end of the shaft 23 which is driven bythe motor 27 as before described. The various pulleys are designed so asto give .the proper speed relations of the different shafts to eachother.

The core thus wound is made up of an endless wire of very small diameterwhich has a fabric thread twisted around it for its full length. Thethreads crossing each other from one side to the other of the coil areinterlaced andbound against each other and against the wire of the'coilmaking a solid mass which holds its form when taken from between the.disks. The coils need something of this character to hold the wires ofthe same together, particularly as the distance between the sides of thecoils is small. After the coil has been made it may be dipped in meltedrosin and the thread serves to absorb the same whereby, after the rosinhas cooled and hardened, the coil is I solid and'firm against anyaccidental disarrangement or breakage of the wires therein. v

This method of winding transformer coils is very simple and effective.The apparatus needed is comparatively inexpensive and there is nothingthat the operator need do except start a coil to winding and remove thecoil from between the disks when it is Wound. Skil edlabor is not neededin anypart of the proceeding. The invention has proved of great utilityin practice and is in continuous practical use.

- I claimz;

1. The herein described method of winding a transformer coil whichconsists in winding wire around a central core, simultaneously winding afabric thread around the wire throughout the length of the same as it iswound on to the core, and moving the wire back and forth lengthwise ofthe core to evenly apply the same thereto, substantially as described.

2. An apparatus comprising a support, a central hollow core attached toand depending from the support, said core having a uantity of thread orthe like wound around t e same, a spool on which a quantity of wire iswound mounted above the support, said wire passing downwardl through thecentral core for the threa and means around which both the wire andthread are wound to make 'a coil, the thread passing from'its core andturning around the wire automatically as it passes therefrom,substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. An apparatus comprising a support, a hollow core attached to anddepending from the support, said core having a quantity of thread or-the likefwound around the same, a

. wire passing downwardly throu h the core,

means for supporting a uantity of said wire above the support, a s aftmounted be- 7 low the thread, spaced apart disks on the 1 around whichboth the wire and thread are shaft, a second core between the diskswound, and means to drive the shaft to wind both the wireand threadaround said second corebetween the disks, substantially as described.

. 4. An apparatus containing the elements in combination claimed inclaim 2 combined with means to automatically move the wire with thethread around it back'and forth between the inner sides of the disks,subis stantially as and for the purposes described.

i 5. An apparatus of the class described,-

comprising a supporting frame,having an upper cross member, a hollowcore on which a uantity of thread or the like is wound attac ed to anddepending from said upper cross member, a spool around which a quantityof wire is wound mounted above the cross member, the wire therefromleading downwardly through the thread core, a shaft mounted at the lowerportion of the support, spaced apart disks on the shaft, a

ring disposed between the disks, and means to rotate the shaft, both thewire and thread being led to and between the disks and "wound around thering, substantially as described.

6. An apparatus of the character described containing the elements incombination defined in claim 5 combined with a bar mounted above theshaft for movement par- 'allel to the shaft, means to give said bar 40limited reciprocatory movements, and a guide on said barthrough whichthe wireand thread pass, substantially as described. 1 7. An apparatusof the character described containing the elements in combinationclaimed in claim 5 combined with a tension device to act on the wirespool, said tension device consisting of a flexlble strap attached atone end to the upper cross member of the support and passing over thewire spool, and a weight connected to the free 'end of the strap,substantially as described.

8. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a supportingframe having upper and intermediate cross members, a hollow core aroundwhich a quantity of thread is wound attached to and depending from theupper cross member, a spool around which a quantity of wire is woundmounted above the upper cross member, said wire leading downwardlythrough, the thread core, a bar mounted on the intermediate cross memberlengthwise thereof and adapted to have limited longitudinal movement, alever pivotally mounted between its endson said intermediate crossmember, and pivotally connected at its front end to the bar, a shaftmounted on the support, a drum having a cam groove therein, a pin attherear end of the lever extending into said

